Hotel News

Happy to hear that Starwood Hotels have reflagged the Hilton Key West Resort & Marina to The Westin Key West Resort & Marina. If you visit, you'll experience an upscale renovation for the next two years but it's well-deserved. Key West has some of the best sunsets anywhere, but its lodging is hit and miss. These upgrades will include conversion of the Sunset Key Cottages just 500 yards offshore into 37 luxurious residential-style accommodations. Since Key West began moving from funky/laid-back to hot/stylish in the 1980s (and, for my money, a big loss), I vote for classy trumping wanna-be wherever possible there now.

Good news, too, that we can now print out our boarding passes in the lobbies of Marriott and Renaissance hotels. Checking into flights early helps reduce onsite airport hassles, ever more prolific these days.

Hotels are trying to create community -- try harder, I say, since airlines are herding us around like sheep. Sheraton's move in this direction is to invite visitors to share stories, tips and photos about travel finds and hotel experiences. Sheraton calls it "the first hotel industry website to embrace social media and feature user generated concent." There's even a "live chat" option for those needing help with a particular property. The home page "flash" globe loaded a little too slowly in my browser, but something to give a try anyway. I always check out several online sites and compare the visitor ratings, never depending solely on one catalogue of opinions. Everybody's got a fave and a beef about something -- so our job is to be influenced by the opinions that suit our preferences.